Prior art of possible relevance includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,743,011 issued July 3, 1973; 4,360,055 issued Nov. 23, 1982; and 4,561,494 issued Dec. 31, 1985, all to Frost.
Heat exchangers made according to any of the above-identified patents have proved to be extremely successful in commercial applications. This is particularly true of applications such as cooling the lubricating oil in an internal combustion engine In this connection, the disclosed structures are relatively simple in design, inexpensive to fabricate, and readily serviceable when required.
Nonetheless, it is desirable to provide additional advantages in a heat exchanger assembly including, for example, a reduction in the number of components, an elimination of the need for fixtures, a reduction in the number of joints subject to possible leakage, an enhancement in ease of fabrication, and a reduction in expense.
As will be appreciated, the present invention differs from those set forth in the above identified patents in providing these and other advantages which are disclosed and claimed herein.